AFTERWAVE DOWNFALL Review

redandbluedave

Aug 18

Info

Developed By: 7 Raven Studios.

Published By: Total Console.

Platforms Available On: Xbox Series X/S and One, PS5/4 and Nintendo Switch.

Reviewed on Xbox Series X (via backwards compatibility) - a code was very kindly supplied for the purpose of this review.

Overview

After Wave: Downfall is an arcade shooter where the player battles against monsters, completes various missions with a cool battleship. Deathrix invaded the world and released a mysterious meteorite causing a great flood. Players can upgrade their ships for better performance to fight the most brutal enemies. A Local Co-op mode allows the player to team up and adventure with others.

Review

In the latest resurgence of retro and retro inspired games there seems to be lots of options to choose from, typically a shmups are normally a retro styled game as that is basically when the genre thrived. Afterwave Downfall is a full bodied shmup in every sense and just oozes retro flavour.

With it's top down view (although it is more back view) straight away you get the retro feeling of shmups that you would have played all those years ago. You and your team of cartoon allies are tasked with saving the world after the invasion of Deathtrix, which sees you battle wave after wave of enemies getting more and more intense as each wave passes.

There is no let up in the action as from the off you are bombarded with enemies all over the screen with the action unrelenting but not in a way that it becomes unplayable, it's a challenge but nothing takes away from the enjoyment of the actual game.

The story mode is like a horde mode where you have one life and you go as far as you can taking on different enemies aswell as bosses and see how far you can get, this mode I loved as the pressure is ramped up and gives a more intense feeling to the game.

The game definitely has that "one more game" theme as you try your best to beat your last high score making it more of a challenge to yourself, you really aren't going to want to put this game down, there is a slight feeling of repetitive gameplay but as the action is constant you don't really feel bored in game.

Although the game has the colossal story mode there are also other modes such as arcade mode and a practice mode. In arcade mode the game feels slightly less stressed as you have more lives it seems to be focusing on the fun factor of the game and it really works.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics of Afterwave Downfall were not what I expected, with it being a retro inspired title I thought they would've gone for a more pixelated look to give it that more authentic feel however they have chosen to go for a more slick cartoon style which to be fair actually works and makes the game look good it's not quite next gen but still looks good.

The soundtrack of the game is as punchy as the game itself and really works to ramp up the overall vibe of the game, in game the sound effects are pretty good and work well giving an overall enjoyable experience.

Summary

Time to put my thoughts into a summary, overall I enjoyed the game and loved the whole retro nostalgia vibe, the game did get a little repetitive but on the whole I felt the experience was enjoyable.